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| Chi-Med CEO Christian Hogg |
Hong Kong-based Hutchinson China MediTech (Chi-Med) announced this week it filed an amended F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its planned $100 million IPO in which it plans to sell American depositary shares (ADSs) under the symbol HCM. The company said in the filing it plans to use the money raised in the offering to develop and commercialize its drug pipeline with the rest used for "working capital and general corporate purposes." The company also said in the filing that Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities are the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. The company first announced last October it would pursue the listing, which is expected to generate a lot of interest from investors around the world. Chi-Med currently has a focus on oncology and immunological diseases and said it has 7 clinical-stage drug candidates with 5 already having "achieved proof-of-concept" that could see them become "eligible for accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company owns four of the candidates and has partnerships on the others with AstraZeneca ($AZN), Eli Lilly ($LLY) and Nestle Health Science. Release
> Tainan-based ScinoPharm Taiwan said full-year net profit reached NT$635 million ($20 million) in 2015, up 31% over the previous year. Release
> Melbourne-based CSL posted a 4% gain in net profit to $719 million for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2015 and reaffirmed a 5% profit growth forecast for the 2016 financial year. Release
> A report by a KPMG analysts suggests India's drug industry is a prime target for attack by cybercrime related to intellectual property theft. Report
> Tokyo-based biopharma PeptiDream will work with Osaka-based Shionogi in return for an undisclosed upfront payment and potential milestones for unspecified therapeutic areas using macrocyclic and constrained peptides, notching up a fifth partner for the firm and its proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System. Release
> Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical granted rights to U.S.-based dermatology firm Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize its investigational atopic dermatitis drug OPA-15406 in exchange for a $22 million lump sum payment and potential milestones and royalties. Release
> Mathew Thomas, director of the U.S. FDA India Office, called for global regulatory standards for drug manufacturers in a speech at the 10th U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention held in India. Report
> Japan-based Sysmex and Tokyo-based Eisai have announced an agreement to build new diagnostics for dementia. The collaboration aims to help create next-generation diagnostics that include early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Release
> Non-profit organization U.S. Pharmacopeia announced plans to create a system to monitor the quality of medicines in India. Counterfeit and substandard drugs are the main drivers of this new system to help regulate the quality of manufactured drugs. Report
> Two studies found high rates of substandard drugs in India, IndiaSpend reports, with around 1 in 7 Indian drugs tested failing quality standards. Report
> Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova presented results from an Ebola vaccine "almost 100% efficacy" to the World Health Organization (WHO). Report